Flexible film bags are a relatively inexpensive and convenient package for snack items such as cookies, which are produced on a mass production, continuous basis. However, they are difficult to stack one upon another on a grocery shelf or display stand because of their flexibility and conformableness to the shape of their contents. The stacking problem is particularly acute where the articles, such as cookies are round circular and packed in one or more rows. While a package with a plurality of rows of cookies may be stacked on their major faces, the rounded edges of the cookies hinder stable stacking of large numbers of packages. In addition, the rounded edges prevent stacking and free-standing of the packages on their minor longitudinal surfaces. Standing and stacking of the packages on their minor surfaces is desirable because it displays the major surface of the package to the consumer. In addition, fragile or crushable articles such as cookies are often damaged in flexible film bags during transport or handling due to their lack of cushioning or rigid supports.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,494,446 to Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 3,212,907 to Caprioli and U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,238 to Graham disclose food packages which include trays for holding crushable food products with rounded edges. According to the patents, the tray containing the food product is packaged within an outer, transparent plastic wrapper. To access a food product contained in the packages, the tray is either partially removed from the outer wrapper or the wrapper is torn, destroying the reclosability of the package. To preserve a packaged food product after the package is initially opened, it is preferred that the wrapper is kept substantially intact and after the tray is at least partially removed from the outer wrapper the tray is then forced back into the outer wrapper, which can be a difficult task. Often, problems arise when reinserting the tray into the outer wrapper, for example, the tray may be cracked or otherwise broken, the outer wrapper may rip or tear, and the necessary force required for reinsertion can lead to breakage of the food products. In addition, removable trays can be relatively expensive to manufacture, and require expensive packaging equipment for loading and insertion into an outer wrapper. In addition, the trays of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,212,907 and 3,740,238 do not impart squared-off corners to the package. Thus, neither package can be stood up on a side edge or an end.
Packages including inflatable or inflated cushioning means for protecting breakable articles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,101 to Pestka, U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,188 to Soroka et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,154 to Cohen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,775 Olsson et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,060 to Forti et al, French Patent Publication Nos. 1,551,895 (published Jan. 3, 1969), 2,389,547 (published Dec. 1, 1978), German Patent Publication No. DE 3,827,858A (published Mar. 2, 1989), Great Britain patent publication no. 2,033,867A (published May 29, 1980), and Japanese Patent publication nos. 3-14478 (published Jan. 23, 1991) and 4-128160 (published Apr. 4, 1992).
For example, Japanese patent publication no. 4-128160 discloses a package comprising a material having air-filled cushioning parts provided on a base plate. When an article is wrapped in the material the cushioning parts surround and cushion the article. The cushioning parts maintain the article spaced from the base plate and the article does not lend direct structural support to the base plate, but rather only indirectly contacts the base plate through the cushioning parts. In the case where an article having a rounded surface is packaged within the material, the volume of the package is considerably larger than the volume of the article because the article is spaced on all sides from the base plate. Thus, shipping, storing and displaying the packaged article require more room than would be required by a package which more closely conforms to the shape of the article.
An article packaged in the material disclosed in Japanese Patent publication 4-128160 is also difficult to view without opening the package even if the base plate and cushioning parts are transparent. Obstructed viewing can be difficult due to optical distortion through the multiple layers of material and the spacing of the article away from the outer surface of the package.
The present invention provides a flexible film, free-standing bag-like package that tightly conforms to an article packaged therein, and cushions a crushable article having a rounded edge packaged therein without the need for a rigid plastic or rigid cardboard tray. The package can be laid flat, stood up on a side edge or end, and stacked one on top of another or row on top of row. The package may also be transparent to allow substantially undistorted viewing of a major portion of an article packaged therein.